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5k Mile service resulting in lower MPG

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by 15SuperPrius, Jun 2, 2019.

  1. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Hi all,

    I recently went to the dealer to perform an "interim" (tire rotation) service. All they literally had to do was rotate the tires, perform their inspection, etc.; however, the car has been constantly getting 3-4 mpg LESS than before. My initial thought was tire pressure, so I immediately checked and added the extra psi that they had prior to the service, but it hasn't done much for MPG.

    I recall the service advisor saying something along the lines of "all looks good, but you'll have to start thinking about brakes during your next visit". Now, driving a car with 72k miles on which I use the brakes minimally, I find this difficult to believe when many people are still on the original set of brake pads at 150k+ miles.

    Any thoughts? I'm thinking they may have "adjusted" my brakes resulting in the loss of efficiency - hopefully an honest mistake and not a dealer tactic to get clients to return. Planning to go back first thing tomorrow morning to have it corrected.
     
  2. Usle

    Usle Active Member

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    Cycle the emergency brake on and off a few, possibly the cable isn't fully retracting.
    Chances are they left the car in "ready" while they worked on it and your overall milage is down, I'd unhook the 12v battery positive lead for a few minutes, do a cold reboot, then watch the mpg's.

    Brakes are a leading source of income for Toyota dealers IMHO,YMMV, my dealer starts wanting to replace-rebuild at 40,000 miles.
     
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  3. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Thank you for the troubleshooting recommendations - will do.

    And I agree, most dealers bank from brake services. I had the service performed a month ago, however, I live downtown and don't drive my car much since I get around on an electric unicycle lol. I was waiting to go through at least 2 gas tanks, resetting the MPG's every single time to see if I noticed any improvement.

    Let's give this a whirl!
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a lot of times, they run down the 12v, which requires extra energy to recharge.

    i would focus on tank averages before i became concerned though.

    keeping records is a good way to spot potential problems.
     
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  5. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Yeah, I’m not a hypermiler by any means, but going from seeing 47-48mpg to 43-44mpg is alarming. Would it take an entire month’s worth for the 12v battery to recharge? I’d think that is a bit excessive, no?
     
    #5 15SuperPrius, Jun 2, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2019
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Just for giggles: feel all the wheels after a good drive. They should be slightly warm at most. If any feel markedly warmer than the rest, might be something going on.

    If you've got a floor jack and wheel chocks: chock the front, raise the rear, apply/release the parking brake a few times, then spin the wheels and see how it they spin. They should go a couple of revolution with after you let go.



    The rears in particular can be problematic: if they've pulled the calipers off, it's possible they reinstalled with misaligned caliper piston. It's a fussy design, due to the integrated parking brake, and if the piston has misaligned, it WILL drag royally. And mess up the pads, and the rotors.
     
  7. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Thank you. I’m headed to the dealer first thing in the morning tomorrow - just for my own knowledge, is there anything that they typically do to the brakes without me asking, during a tire rotation service? This was my first time at this particular dealer, but I’ve never had this happen in the past while having the car serviced at the other dealer I used to go to (farther away).
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no, they don't do anything to the brakes. you're lucky if they actually inspect them like they are supposed to.
     
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  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    12v can take a long time to charge, depending on how depleted it is, and how much driving you do. the charging system is more of a maintainer than a charger.
     
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  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I strongly suspect they would do nothing to the brakes, studiously ignore them, lol. They're technically supposed to do a visual inspection, which means take off the tire and look at the brakes, nothing more. In the process of rotating the tires.

    Any clues in the invoice? How much did they charge?

    Again, feel the wheels after a decent drive. If they all feel about the same, and only slightly warm, the brakes are very likely not the issue.
     
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  11. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    This is very puzzling then - my guess is, as mentioned above, they probably kept the car on READY mode for long, and it threw off the numbers.
     
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  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that's a good point, very possible. have you reset the trip meter?
     
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  13. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Will do. The invoice was for $29.99 - they charged me $10 for rotation of all tires and $20 for patching a tire that had a nail in it; these are lower than their typical prices but I negotiated for them to honor the pricing that I used to get at the other dealer. For that little money I can’t foresee them doing much labor voluntarily.
     
  14. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Yes sir, on every gas tank I make it a point to do so, which is why I noticed right away.

    Some people will argue that taking off the hubcaps may have affected mileage, but they have been off since I purchased the car almost two years ago, and I was seeing 47-48mpg’s until this last service.
     
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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Geez I woudn't drive so hard a bargain, for fear they'd come at me with the air hammer, lol.

    Seriously, I think tire rotation is dealerships' "loss leader". They're hoping you'll get pulled in, then they'll sell you on extras.

    Just imagine doing that yourself. I know, they've got air tools, a full lift, roomy maintenance bays, and so on. But that stuff doesn't grow on trees. Consider doing it in a cluttered garage with a floor jack and safety stands. And then wrestling with a tire to plug repair? And airing it up, with a bicycle pump...

    Was the flat repair an old school plug-repair, or a full outside/inside repair?
     
    #15 Mendel Leisk, Jun 2, 2019
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  16. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Very good points lol - but simply because it wasn’t a money maker, I can’t think of them touching anything past a tire rotation - unless of course, “adjusting” something that will guarantee my return with a money maker.
     
    #16 15SuperPrius, Jun 2, 2019
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  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  18. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Mendel, it was a full inside/outside tire repair - they had to dismount and remount the tire.
     
    #18 15SuperPrius, Jun 2, 2019
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  19. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    who does a 5k service for ten bucks?:p
     
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  20. 15SuperPrius

    15SuperPrius Member

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    Technically it was just tire rotation (I get them rotated every 5k miles) - every other service includes an oil change (for which I pay $60 total), but this was a short one.:D